Buyer Beware! Do not host with HostICan!
Rather than clean up this post - which was updated throughout my ordeal with them - I wanted to summarize the problem I had when I was hosted with HostICan.
When I first switched to them, they seemed great at the time. I was very happy. I even signed up as an affiliate and recommended them, sent clients to them. A few months after I signed up however, the problems began…
At first I got a threatening email from them saying my site was using too much CPU/Memory. I could not get any kind of helpful response via email so I finally called them. The guy I spoke to said it was a momentary spike - everything was fine - lets see if it happens again.
A few weeks (?) later, it happened again. Again, I called and was told to install wp-cache and that should fix the problem. So I did.
I had a few more back and forths with them. The end result was that starting in 2008 I think they changed their monitoring systems, from a threatening email - to simply taking your whole site down.
My site has not had a massive increase in posts, or visitors in a few years. In fact, because I’ve been so busy, posting here has been less and less, and number of visitors has roughly averaged the same or less.
Simply put, I wasn’t happy with their service anymore. In my previous post, people said “What do you expect when you pay ~$6 for hosting” (Actually I had paid more than that - but whatever). No matter what - if that’s the service you get with cheap hosting - so be it. But what happened next is inexcusable.
On their site, they say that if you’re not happy, you can get your money back… they ALSO say that if you are not happy within 30 days - you can get a full refund. Well, I’m not looking for a full refund, but since I paid for TWO YEARS up front, and the service obviously isn’t working for me anymore - I would like to get a prorated refund. This is standard policy with every host provider I have ever contacted. On their site the “30 day RISK FREE money back guarantee” wording - is COMPLETELY SEPARATE from their “Service guarantee”:
SERVICE GUARANTEE:
We guarantee that we’ll provide quality service:* 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
* 24/7/365 Phone & Email Support
* Your satisfaction or your money back. (emphasis mine)
When I canceled I asked for my prorated refund, and I was told I would get nothing because I was canceling outside the 30-day window. Their friendly response:
You seem to miss one vital thing “30 day money back guarantee” and this applies within the 30 days “Your satisfaction or your money back.” not within 7 months.
They want to massively restrict CPU and take everyone’s site down - I guess, sure, thats what you get with cheap hosting - but to put up a VERY misleading “SERVICE GUARANTEE” - and keep hundreds of dollars for hosting I’m obviously not getting/using… This is a good business practice??
Whatever the restriction is on CPU usage - it was so tight that I had A LOT of problems getting my database off their system… I would try to export the database, and it wouldn’t let me… I had to manually export most of the rows for my posts and comments in small increments - and even then it skipped a few. It’s also interesting to note that if you browse around on their forums, you’ll see a bunch of people complaining of this problem.
People - be forewarned… This is not just cheap hosting… this is a BAD BUSINESS. I STRONGLY advise against hosting with them.
February 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
You need to contact BBB or something… Did you pay via PayPal or CC?? I’d even maybe file a complaint with them and try to get my money back that way since they didn’t provide the services in which they said they would when you signed up…
February 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I probably will file a complaint with BBB - and apparently I won’t be alone:
http://richmond.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=85&bbb=0603&firm=21017360
If I had seen THAT before I signed up with them - NO WAY would I have signed up.
I paid with a credit card, and I am working with their dispute department. I have no idea how “powerful” that is - it sounds like they can get the money back - but if HostICan whines (which I’m sure they will) they have to give it back - and thus a back and forth ensues (?) I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. At best, it will probably take months to ensure I get money back and keep it.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
These complaints were closed as:
1 No Response
2 Resolved
1 Unresolved
how the hell do you get a complaint closed with no responses and unresolved and still get to stay in business is my question… lol
not sure how much you’re fighting to get back, but it almost looks like it’d be worth it to just cut your losses… but at the same time, i think it’s time for someone to stand up and force them to either start doing better business or get out of business…
February 14th, 2008 at 1:02 am
“BBB Accreditation was revoked on 9/19/2007″
Yet they still claim to have it:
“From the BBB (Better Business Bureau) to the CNET User Recommended award, HostICan has won most of them.”
“Our excellent standing in the BBB can’t be matched.”
These lies are inexcusable.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Hmm… interesting. I wonder what the actual cpu/memory usage limit was.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I’m pretty sure I asked this question - and was told “10%” - but I guess that’s the beauty in this whole “CPU/Memory usage” restrictions with these cheap host providers… what is 10%? And within what time frame? It’s not something concrete like “x#MB of bandwidth” or “x#GB of disk space” - it may be great to say that all this is unlimited - but somewhere you have to make a cut. Since disk space and bandwidth are getting cheaper and cheaper - the cut seems to come at the CPU/Memory usage. And the greatest thing for guys like HostICan - is it’s not quantitative. 10% at one host may be completely different from 10% at another. And of course, you probably won’t find that out until well after the “30 day” window. And by then - with HostIcan anyway, you’re trapped or you’ve lost your money.
That’s why I think getting the word out is so important. The personal experience of others at a hosting company will really play an important role for me moving forward and I will be less likely to host with anyone unless I know someone else who is on the server and is happy.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Ok, I just emailed them…
=================
Good evening,
On your “Our Awards” page, it states the following:
“HostICan has been recognized by many industry review organizations as well as consumer watch dogs. From the BBB (Better Business Bureau) to the CNET User Recommended award, HostICan has won most of them.”
However, on the BBB website, it states the following:
” Reliability Report for
HostICan
BBB Accreditation was revoked on 9/19/2007
BBB Rating Unsatisfactory”
Could you please shed some light on this and make me feel more comfortable with wanting to host with you?
Thanks,
Tracey
========================
I’ll keep you all posted…
February 14th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Here was the fist reply:
=============================
Tracey,
Thank you for contacting HostICan Sales.
The BBB is a great oganization, what can I say. However, their practiese are somewhat unworldly
as they keep insisting their rules, that they make you pay a membership for, that are somewhat
one sided, both organizations mutally parted, unlike it says on their site.
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Best Regards,
Ted Davis
HostICan Sales
================================
February 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
About 10 minutes after the one above…
=============================
Dear Tracey,
Thank you for contacting HostICan Sales.
We do appreciate your interest in HostICan. Your inquiry was submitted to our sales department, and one of our sales associates will be in contact shortly.
For future reference, this will be your Sales Inquiry ID: PMP-756332
Please let us know if you have any further questions. We will be in contact shortly.
Best Regards,
HostICan Sales
HostICan Web Hosting
(Intl) +1 (804) 412-0390
(F) (804) 550-3339
February 14th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Hmm… conveniently no mention of the “unresolved disputes” listed on BBB. How nice.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
@Clickfire:
> Hmm… interesting. I wonder what the actual cpu/memory usage limit was.
I was shut down when the logs said I was using only 1.8%. I guess the real limit was 1% or 1.5% or something.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
hrrm, well coming up on 24 hours and haven’t heard anything since my last reply… funny stuff.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Don’t expect to hear from them. They have their head in the sand (or up their asses - take your pick) - and feel they can do no wrong - everyone else is to blame for their server problems. As well, any responses I’ve seen from HostICan completely ignore the fact that their site has that misleading text about their so called “Service Guarantee” refund policy. So convenient.
Look at their responses here:
http://www.clickfire.com/hostican-review/
February 15th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Hello Jenifer,
I would suggest that you move to another host right away. you should not spend any time with your present host if they are giving you trouble.
I have been with ICDSoft for 5 years and they support has been incredible.
Search for ICDSoft and you will know
February 15th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Definitely. I’ve already moved off HostICan - but still in progress fighting them to get my money back.
I’m hesitant to recommend ANY host after the ordeal I went through with HostICan and their false refund policy - but I moved to BlueHost at the recommendation of a friend who also uses them, and so far so good.
I should point out that BlueHost also has some restrictions on CPU usage just like most host - especially shared hosts do - and the do monitor the usage - I even called them to confirm that everything on my site was fine - and they said it was. No idea what HostICan’s problem is.
February 16th, 2008 at 12:07 am
> No idea what HostICan’s problem is.
From what I can tell, this new monitoring software they installed in early January is faulty or misconfigured, taking down people’s sites when their usage is at only 1.8% rather than the 25% stated in the TOS.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
[...] are a dodgyhost if the you suck blog posting gets over 100 diggs. In this case, you are [...]
February 25th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Hello Jennifer,
Bluehost has some negative feedback. You can check this forum for any companies’s reputation
http://www.webhostingtalk.com
Its one of the biggest hosting forums.
I would suggest you also look into ICDSoft, its Support is by far the best. They answer within minutes. I have 3 sites with them and I have been using them since March 2003.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:26 am
HOSTICAN, is the worst company ever. Unreplied answers, shutdown server, access denied, bad support (?) staff, etc, etc, etc. DO NOT WASTE your money. All your comments, are absolute true.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:44 am
@Anjabiz - yeah, I know Bluehost has gotten some bad reviews. As I said, a friend of mine has used them for a long time and had been happy and recommended them. Before I signed up with them - the bad reviews I had read were from some time ago - and my friend said they had cleaned up their act. I figured I’d give them a shot. BLUEHOST at least does give prorated refunds (I DOUBLE and TRIPLE checked this time!) so I figured worst came to worst, I’d just move again. It couldn’t possibly be as bad as HostICan was!! But you will notice that I’m not signing up as an affiliate and I’m not all out recommending them to other people. I don’t think I’ll EVER do that again!
March 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Sorry to hear about the problems that you have experienced with your web host. I’ve never heard of HostIcan, but after reading this, I’ll stay far away.
I use Liquidweb and I have has been very pleased, I just celebrated my one year aniversary with Liquidweb this month.
Another host that I would stay away from is godaddy. godaddy likes to nickel and dime you to death for every service that should be included. I had access to a godaddy account via one of my clients/customers. I cannot imagine having a web host without shell access.
March 12th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Good luck with Bluehost
Bluehost Blues!
April 14th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Just an update on this…
I have finally received my money back - but with no thanks to HostICan. My credit card company gave it to me. We had a bit of a back and forth with HostICan. Basically it starts out with me sending in my request for a dispute over the charge. I included the basics of my complaint and then HostICan can submit a “defense”. And then I get another chance at a “rebuttal”.
Their best defense was claiming that I was an “abuser of resources” and then they printed out my website post and claimed it as “slander” (??!! LOL! Guys - look up the definition of slander. When it’s TRUE it’s NOT slander.
My rebuttal included a letter from Bluehost explaining they DO in fact monitor resources on my server and I have not been abuser of resources. And then I printed out the VERY MANY websites where people are complaining of these problems with HostICan. It’s funny too because on almost all of them - you’ll find people who work for HostICan whining about how mean everyone is being to them - and how this is somehow proof that we’re all just “out to get them” (?). Maybe if they had these people working on the SERVERS instead of going around to websites trying to do “damage control” for crappy servers and/or monitoring systems - we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Point blank - HostICan has a defective product which they try to cover up and not have to take a hit in their pockets with by disguising their (non-existent) refund policy.
And for all the complaints about Bluehost - I’m sure there are people that have had problems with them. And even maybe at some point down the road I will too… however, the main issue here is that when their service starts to become unsatisfactory - I know I can leave and get my money back without having to go through a four month battle. I’m certainly not defending Bluehost - after my experience with HostICan, I will NEVER recommend a host provider to ANYONE - but at least I know I won’t get screwed like I did with HostICan.
(Oh also - I filed a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau - but HostICan must have ignored them. So the BBB has closed it and labeled it “closed - unresolved”. So they’re completely useless. This is probably why the BBB has them listed with an “unsatisfactory” rating - and revoked their membership - despite HostICan saying that it’s like that because they didn’t want to pay a membership fee or some such nonsense.)
April 14th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Wow, sorry to hear it took so long to get your money back!
They gave it to me the moment I asked for it. They seemed glad to be rid of me, actually.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 am
I had some of the same stuff happen with them. I have a small blog and I started getting the messages about exceeding bandwidth. I think they are trying to sell you a bigger package. So I finally walked away. I didn’t argue about the money. I was just glad to get away from them.
I went to HostGator. And it is such a difference. It’s amazing.